Message Builder
The Message Builder is the place in HouseCalls where you put all of your recorded pieces together. You can access the Message Builder by choosing Message Builder under the Messages tab.
How to Build a Message
The message builder allows you to create the messages that will be sent to your patients. Once you build a message, you can use it as many times as you like without ever having to rebuild it. You can even edit a message at any time. Building a message is relatively simple. Follow these steps:
1. Under the Messages group, click the Build Message icon.
2. Before you arrange the elements of your message, you must assign your message a message number . From the drop-down message number box, choose the message number that you want this message to be assigned to. Give the message a brief description in the 'Description' box.
3. Choose the voice that you want assigned to this message, then click on Edit. 4. To begin making the message, click Add Element .
5. Here, you order the individual components of this message. Under each element (greeting, ending, subject, etc.), you may choose an element (or record a new element) to place in your message. For example, highlight the greeting that you want to use and choose Select. If you do not see the greeting that you want to use, simply make the one that you want “on the fly”. To record a new greeting, first click on Greeting on the message element page. Next, click the Greeting icon at the bottom of the screen. Now, type your greeting and then record using the
Record button.
6. Continue to add elements to your message until it is complete.
7. When your message is complete, choose Exit. Do not worry if you accidentally add the wrong element. The 'Rearrange and Delete Screen' will help you to position your elements in the right order, and delete any unwanted items.
8. Now, the 'Edit Message' screen appears. To finalize your message, click Response Options.
9. Once you select the appropriate response options that you want your patients to have, select Exit. Your message is now complete.
10. Click Verify to make sure that all of your merged elements are present and have been recorded. If you would like to hear your message, click Play and follow the on screen prompts to listen your message.
Edit Message
By clicking on Edit in the Message Builder, you access the 'Edit Message' dialog box. This is your destination for compiling the elements of your message. It is also your site for choosing the response options that complete your message.
The Elements screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding elements to your message:
Simply click on the element that you would like to add, and it will be inserted at the end of the message. Some of the elements may ask you to select from a list of options. For
example, the Greeting selection will pull up a list of your available greetings, where you can choose which greeting to add. When you’re finished adding all the elements, you may exit this screen.
If you need to rearrange or delete any of the message elements, you can select
Rearrange/Delete from the Edit Message screen and use the following screen shown below. You may drag an element up or down to move it to a new position. You can also select an element by clicking on it, then delete it by clicking on the Delete button.
Message Elements
To add a greeting to your message, select the different greetings that are available on the left panel, and the script that applies will appear in the right panel. When you have selected which element to include, click the Select button.
How to Record a New Greeting
Clicking the Greetings button brings you to the destination for recording a new message greeting. In this way, you can add and record new greetings interactively as you are building a message.
Identification Options
To add the identification section to a message, first access the Message Builder and click on the Edit button. Then select Identification Options from the Edit screen.
You can select which identification greeting to use. Then decide if you want to include the patient’s individual full name, use the library of first names, or the library of last names to speak the name. Finally, select which identification instructions will be presented to the patient for pressing the 1 key to confirm receipt of the message.
After enabling Identification Options, select the ID Keys button to set the actions for each touch tone response.
Response Options
Response options allow for an “interactive” session between HouseCalls and the patient.
After a message has been played to the patient, the patient can be presented with response options as indicated in the following screen.
Select the number from the key pad; this will allow you to set an action from the drop- down menu with that particular touch tone key.
Save Answer as 'Yes' - Saves the listener’s response as “Yes”. After the patient presses the 1 Key, HouseCalls will play an additional ending, such as “Thank you for confirming your appointment”. The calls are displayed on the call results report as “Answered – Yes”.
Repeat the Message - Repeats the message for the patient. After the message is replayed, the patient will be presented with the response options once again. If the listener only replays the message, the call status will be shown as “Answered – Repeated Message”.
Record a Message - Records a message after the tone. This allows the patient to leave a message for the office. The call will be indicated as “Answered – Left Message” on the report.
Play an Optional Message - Plays an optional message for the patient, such as directions to the office. After the optional message is played, the response options will be repeated.
Save Answer as 'No' - After the patient presses the 5 Key, HouseCalls will play an additional ending, such as “We’re sorry that you will be unable to make your appointment. Please call our office to reschedule…”. The result report will show “Answered – No”.
Take a Survey - Allows the user to take an optional Survey. This survey module is a separate plug-in to the HouseCalls Software. Please contact TeleVox Software at 800-644-4266 for additional information and pricing.
Ring the Receptionist - Rings the receptionist for assistance. If the call is made during office hours, the response 0 key can be used to ring the receptionist. HouseCalls can ring the receptionist in one of three ways: ringing the local HouseCalls PC, transferring to an extension, or performing a conference call to another number (types of transferring permitted are dependent on your voice board and your phone system).
Changing your Response Options
To change your response options, click “Change” from the Message Response Options dialog box. Make sure you click change on the number that you would like to change. You can select from the instructions or endings that appear in the list. As you scroll down the list, you will see the words of the script appear in the right panel. Click on the
Select button when you have highlighted the desired option.
If you need to add a new option, you can accomplish this from the change screen. For example, to add a new response 1 key instruction and ending, click on the 1 Key icon. In the dialog box that appears, type in your instructions and message to play.
Click the letter under the Record column next to the fields that contain your new
response options. Once you record, you will have a new response option to choose from.
Family Messages - How to Implement in HouseCalls
Family messages can be useful to implement in HouseCalls because they are able to call a household and deliver a message that contains information pertaining to each family member … all in a single phone call. The first step is to set up a family message in the Message Builder. As you can see below, this message has a special “Family First Names, Appointment Times, and Doctors” element in the message content:
Family elements can include the following:
• Names Only
• Names and Times
• Names, Times, and Doctors
• Names, Times, and Procedures
• Times Only
• Times and Doctors
• Locations, Doctors, Subject 1, First Name, Subject 2, Procedures
• Names, Times, and Locations
Next, you will need to indicate where the family message should be assigned. In this way, when HouseCalls see more than one call in the calling list with the same phone umber, it will replace the original message on the first call with the family message. You can assign the family message under Notification Messages found on the parameters screen.
Voice Manager
Deciding What Messages to Create
What makes HouseCalls so wonderful is that the messages are data driven. The system uses information contained in your current patient scheduling system to ‘build’ the content of the messages.
The benefits of data-driven messaging are reflected in the accuracy of the message content. Patients will receive the right information because the messages are based on individual patient data.
For instance, you can probably generate several reports from your current scheduling system. These reports are exactly what HouseCalls uses to import the calling
information. This means that anything you see on a report can be included in a message.
Here’s an example of a report (this may look similar to one of your reports): MARIA HARMON 555-7643 2:00 10/17/2003 RECHECK DR. SMITH PARIS
DARREN MORRIS 555-4691 2:30 10/17/2003 NEW PATIENT DR. MOORE VIENNA From this data, HouseCalls can call these patients and remind them of their appointment. The message could include:
Greeting: Hello this is Rachel from the Medical Center. I am calling to remind Patient’s Name: Maria
Subject: that you have an appointment on Date: Friday, October 17th
Word: scheduled for Time: 2:00 pm
Doctor: with Dr. Smith Location: at our Paris Office
Ending: We are looking forward to seeing you then.
HouseCalls can also do something else with this data. Since Darren Morris has “NEW PATIENT” in his appointment notes, HouseCalls can use this information to “map”, or assign, another message. For instance, you may want to send an entirely different message to your new patients, perhaps reminding them to bring their insurance card and giving them directions to the office. HouseCalls has the flexibility to map messages on just about anything.
You may want to look at the different reports that you can generate from your current scheduling system, and use it as a guideline when setting up your HouseCalls messages.
Voice Manager
The Voice Manager is the central location for editing voices and recording message elements.
You can access the Voice Manager by clicking the Voice Manager icon under the Messages
group. The Voice Manager screen will appear:
Through the Edit Voices button, you can define 9 different voices, irrespective of gender or language. The edit voices function, simply put, is the library that contains the current voices you may use.
The Edit Selection button is one way to change your message elements.
Your scripted elements are the Greetings, Subjects, Endings, and Words. These elements are the “building blocks” for a message.
The system elements include the days of the week, months, numbers, and ordinal dates. These can be scripted to reflect the current language that is assigned to the voice.
Identification options help to identify the listener before playing the message, and in turn, the response options help the listener to respond to the HouseCalls message. Finally, the merge elements appear at the bottom of the list. These are used to insert information that is related to a specific call for a patient. For instance, the patient’s name can be inserted as the patient’s full name, the library of first names, or the library of last names. The libraries allow you to record a name only once and use it for every patient that has the same name. Other merge elements include: the doctor assigned, any specific doctor messages, the location where the patient should arrive, and the procedure that will be performed.
To record different message elements, choose the element that you wish to edit and click the Edit Selection button.
Edit Voices
From the Voice Manager screen, you can select “Edit Voices” to maintain the voices in HouseCalls. Voices are used to identify who is recording the message elements. To add a voice, simply type the voice name in an open slot. You can have up to 9 different voices in the HouseCalls system. You can also specify the language that will apply to each voice. Simply enter the language number next to the voice name. The Language Screen will allow you to view and update your available languages. By changing the language, the scripts will automatically change for days, months, numbers, and dates.
In addition, if a voice needs to be changed (such as a change of staff), you can modify the voice and change the voice to the new name. By checking “Clear Voices”,
HouseCalls will clear any of the previous recordings for each voice that has been updated.
Edit Selection
After you have added your voice in HouseCalls, you can select it as the current voice by clicking on the drop-down list of voices. You may then begin adding and recording your message elements.
By clicking on a message element on the left, you will be indicating which element you would like to edit. Then by clicking Edit Selection, HouseCalls will take you to the appropriate editing screen.
Tips on Recording
Before you begin recording, here are a few tips on recording that may help to make your messages sound even better:
• Look at the item that you are about to record, and think of how it fits into the message as whole. Try to control the inflection of your voice to match how you would say it if you were speaking the entire message. Recording each element in this way will allow you to create a great sounding message when you put all the pieces together.
• Try to record in a quiet room or at a time when there is not a lot of background noise.
• Everyone likes to hear a friendly voice, and you will find that this is no exception … especially when you consider how many people will be listening to your messages.
• After you click on the record button, a screen will appear that prompts you to pick up the phone. Before picking up the phone, take a deep breath. Remember to speak clearly, and try to keep your volume level the same.
• Start recording after you are prompted. As soon as you’re finished recording, click on the stop button. Remember that breathing and noise could be stored in
the recorded item, so try to stop the recording before it has a chance to pick up any unwanted noise.
• After you have recorded the message elements, try building the message and see how it sounds. If needed, you can re-record the message elements as often as you like to get the result that you want.
• The small pictures to the left of each script indicate the current status of each element. A Green Check-mark means that the item has been recorded. A Red X shows that the item has not been recorded. And a Pencil
indicates that the item is available for scripting.
Recording Greetings, Subjects, and Endings
This topic shows you how to record a new Greeting, and it is in this same manner that you can record Subjects and Endings. Here, you can select a blank greeting and click on the Edit button, then type the words of the message that you want to record and choose
Recording Words
Word elements are single words that are recorded to place within your message. Usually these words are place before a merge element, such as a time, date, doctor, or location.
To record, type in the word and choose the letter next to the word in the record column.
Recording System Elements
System elements are used to insert dates and times into your messages. When you edit system elements, the following screen will appear:
If you click on the Scripts button, you will be able to view and change the scripts for each element. For example, the scripts for the days of the week are shown on the following screen.
When you are ready to record, select the item(s) you wish to record in one of the following ways, and click on the Record button.
• Click on the name with your mouse.
• To select a list of items, click on the first item in the range, then hold down your SHIFT key and click on the last item in the range.
• To select multiple items that are scattered throughout the list, hold down your CTRL key while clicking on the names.
• Click on the Select All button to select the entire list
• Click on the Select Non Recorded button to select all of the items that have not been recorded.
Next you can click on the “Record” or “Play” buttons to perform voice operations on the list that you have selected.
Pick up the HouseCalls phone, then when prompted, say the day. Remember to think about how this word will fit into the entire message, so you control the tone of your voice to match. You can click on the Next button to move forward to the next day.
Previous will allow you to re-record the previous day, and Current will let you re-record the current day.
Identification Options
Identification options can be used to help identify the listener before playing the HouseCalls message.
Here’s how it works: The identification greeting is presented, followed by the patient’s name, and then the identification instructions.
For example: Hello, this is Shannon from the Southwest Medical Center. If this is (Patient’s Name), and if you can accept an important message from your doctor, please press the 1 key on your touch tone telephone.
If the patient presses the 1 key, HouseCalls will include the word “Confirmed” in the